UK leads Europe hotel occupancy recovery, says STR
The UK’s index has consistently been above 80% since 23 February, and the majority of major markets should recover to 90-100% of pre-Covid levels by mid-May.
The UK, Poland and Ireland are leading Europe’s hotel occupancy recovery as these three countries have achieved occupancy indexes that are 80% or higher of pre-pandemic levels, according to the STR.
As of 11 April, the UK showed a running 28-day occupancy that was 87% of the comparable 2019 level, and the country’s index has consistently been above 80% since 23 February.
Additionally, Poland and Ireland saw occupancy of 84.5% and 81.3% respectively.
However, despite having the second-highest occupancy index, Poland’s levels have fallen over recent weeks after hitting an index peak of 94 on 29 March. Poland experienced a lift in occupancy as a result of hosting refugees during the early days of the Russia-Ukraine war.
Robin Rossmann, STR managing director, said: “Europe’s occupancy recovery has accelerated in recent months to 70% of pre-pandemic comparables.
“In general, leisure-dependent markets have been furthest ahead in the timeline, but there are encouraging signs recently of life returning to gateway cities that are more reliant on corporate demand. Our occupancy-on-the-books data shows that many of the major markets should recover to 90-100% of 2019 levels by mid-May.”
